


Triage

by ErisPhoenix



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Mature cause of the hospital talk and what not, Poor Will bb needs stitches, Will is still a cop, Wound talk, and Hannibal is still an ER doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:07:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErisPhoenix/pseuds/ErisPhoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt seen on Hannigram.com - "do you know if there is any cop will/er dr hannibal fic because i feel like this should be a thing that is done." Well, I've hopefully kind of done it!</p><p>*Edit 4/2/14: I've added a chapter two, simply because you were all so wonderful. I hope you all enjoy it as much as the first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First piece of work for the Hannibal fandom, hope it's ok. Feel free to send concrit.

As the ambulance doors opened and the gurney was unloaded, Will clutched at his hastily bandaged leg and groaned. The paramedic pushing him gave him a quick glance and made a sympathetic noise.  
“Bled through the second bandage, they definitely got you deep, buddy.” the paramedic looked up at the back of his partner’s head, who was pulling the gurney towards the emergency room doors. “Hey, Brad, when you’re giving them the breakdown tell them they’ll want a bag of blood on hold just in case.”

The paramedic named Brad looked back and gave a quick nod, before turning back and giving the button marked “Automatic Open” a push. Will watched through half lidded eyes as the doors swung open, revealing the stark white and blue décor of the emergency triage ward. The smell of blood and bleach flooded his nostrils as he was pushed into a curtained portion of the ward, being quickly surrounded by nurses, who hooked him up to IV lines and began cutting his trousers off. He gave a small huff of frustration, those dress pants weren’t cheap, and the force only allowed you to wear a certain brand. That was another $60 washed away that he didn’t really have to spare.

Will didn’t really listen as Brad the paramedic began the breakdown of what happened; he just sat there and let himself be pushed and pulled about. He winced when needles were pushed roughly into his skin. He knew that he’d lost quite a bit of blood, but couldn’t they be a bit gentler?  
“This is William, white male, early thirties, police officer on the local force. Stab wound to the upper left thigh, given to him by a particularly pissed off drug dealer. Lost a fair amount of blood, recommended that you guys have a bag on standby in case an emergency transfusion is deemed necessary, but I’ll let you lot decide that. Patient was awake and alert the whole ride here, and is able to answer questions. Temperature slightly raised but of no concern, heart rate understandably fast but not tachycardic. Breathing normal. We’ll leave him in your capable hands!”

Will didn’t even look up as Brad and his partner left, merely concentrating on the tubes now entering his left hand as the liquid in the bags started to flow through them. An accented voice positioned just behind his head asked him question, pulling him out of his reverie. “The paramedics gave you a low dose of morphine on the ride here, do you feel you need more?”

“I’ve got a hole in my leg, if you’ve got more of course I’ll fucking take more,” Will replied irritably. He shifted his weight, taking in a sharp gasp as a shooting pain in his thigh reminded him of his limitations. There was a small ‘tsk’ from behind his head before he heard drawers and wrappers being opened. Will looked up as the person came into his eye line, a syringe of clear liquid held in one of his gloved hands.

The man took a hold of Wills arm and stretched it out, holding the tip of the needle at the crook of his elbow. “Sharp scratch, William.” Will flinched as the needle entered his skin, but as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared. The doctor placed a hand on Wills head, pushing it back, while shining a torch into his eyes. “My name is Doctor Hannibal Lecter. I’m the doctor in charge of the triage ward tonight, and will be over seeing your care. Your pupils have a good reaction time.” Doctor Lecter took a step back, placing the tiny torch into the breast pocket of his white coat. “I’d like to listen to your heart rate now, if you don’t mind.” Will shrugged half-heartedly and sat forward, moving slowly so as not to aggravate his leg. As he quickly looked down he noticed that a nurse had replaced his old bandage with a brand new one, one he had yet to bleed through.

“Tilt forward a little more William, I’m just going to place the stethoscope on your back. It will be cold, I apologise.” Doctor Lecter lifted Wills shirt up so it bunched up just under his arms, before placing the stethoscope against his skin gently. Will just stared forward as his waited, breathing steadily. The morphine seemed to be working, as the pain in his leg wasn’t as sharp as it was before, and he wasn’t quite so angry.

Doctor Lecter drew away, hooking the stethoscope around his neck once more. “Your heart rate is good William, and as you haven’t bled through that bandage I think it would be safe for us to simply stitch you up. No need for a blood transfusion today. Nurse, you can leave to attend to the other patients, I’ll quickly stitch up William here and he can be on his way.” The nurse who had been monitoring Wills IV lines smiled at Doctor Lecter before leaving the curtained area, pulling the curtains shut behind her.

“You’re lucky it’s a slow night tonight, William. My stitching is the best in the hospital, even if I do say so myself.” Doctor Lecter looked down at Will and smiled, his eyes crinkling. Will noticed just how high the doctor’s cheek bones were.

“That’s one silver lining of tonight, I suppose,” Will muttered. He turned his head to watch as Doctor Lecter went over to the drawers at the back of the room and went through them collecting everything he needed.

“I’d like to think so. Hopefully I’ll be able to leave you with hardly a scar, although some people enjoy having their scars, to give their stories more of a kick.” Doctor Lecter moved across the room, placing the necessary items on the bed in-between Wills legs. He pulled aside the cut fabric of the trousers, and began to gently pat the wound with a damp cloth, cleaning off the dried blood. Will felt barely any pain as the wound was cleaned, the morphine had definitely kicked in. He leant his head back against the bed and watched the Doctor work through half lidded eyes. He suddenly felt very tired.

“So,” Doctor Lecter began, “how long have you been on the force, William?”

Will clucked his tongue. “A few years now. This is my first major injury on the job.”

Doctor Lecter nodded as he finished his cleaning, throwing the now bloodied cloth into the bin at the side of the room. He opened up a new syringe and filled it from a small vial. “Local anaesthetic. I want to make sure you feel no pain, William.” Doctor Lecter placed a hand on Wills thigh, keeping it still. He slowly injected various amounts of the liquid around the site of the wound, assessing as he went. “It’s quite deep, I think you will need two layers of stitches. I will use stitches that dissolve on your muscle layer, and ones that will have to be taken out by hand on your skin. You’re quite lucky, William. This could have been a lot worse. There’s a large artery that runs through the thigh, and if the knife had hit that, then we would not be having this conversation right now. Do you know the person who did this to you?” Doctor Lecter asked, while attempting to make eye contact with Will.

Will shifted under his gaze, instead choosing to focus on the doctor’s neck. “Uh, yeah, uhm. We know who it was. My partner arrested them and took them to the station while I was brought here, so.”

Doctor Lecter ripped open a fresh needle and started threading surgical thread through the eye. “What will happen to the man who injured you, William?”

Will pressed his lips together, trying to fight through the slight haze of morphine to remember what happens in situations like this. “I think, he uh, will get charged. With something. The original crime we were bringing him in for, and for stabbing me. My er, my partner saw me get stabbed so uhm, it’s not like there’s no evidence it was him or anything.”

Doctor Lecter nodded, bringing one gloved hand to probe at Wills wound. “Can you feel that?”

Will shook his head, unable to take his eyes off the doctor’s finger in the gash on his thigh. Blood oozed up, surrounding the finger, showing that Will’s body wasn’t happy with the intrusion. He should be able to feel that, the searing agony of someone poking and probing his torn skin. But he couldn’t. Modern medicine was fantastic.

Doctor Lecter started on the muscle layer of stitches, methodically dipping in and out of the damaged tissue. “At least it was a clean cut wound. Just a slash and exit, if you will. No tearing that would take a surgery to fix. You must be a very lucky man, William.”

“Please,” Will blurted, “call me Will. Only my Mother calls me William.” The morphine buzz was making him chattier than he usually was.

Doctor Lecter smiled. “Alright, Will it is. Do you have someone who can come and pick you up, Will? I’m afraid I would not be happy with you taking public transport after such an ordeal.”

Will let out a short laugh and shook his head. “No, no. The only person who I could ask is my partner, and his shift doesn’t finish for another..” Will looked around for a clock. “What the hell is the time?”

Doctor Lecter chuckled and looked down at the watch pinned to his white coat. “It is 2:07am, Will.”

“In that case, his shift doesn’t finish for another four hours. Looks like I’ll be shelling out for a taxi doesn’t it Doctor Lecter.” Will flopped his head to the side, the buzz that encompassed his body making him feel floppy. “Morphine is a fantastic drug, isn’t it?” Will giggled to himself. “Maybe I should get injured more often.”

Doctor Lecter smiled to himself and pulled the last of the stitches shut, ending them neatly. “The first set of stitches is done, Will, let me just check your pupils before I do the next set.” Doctor Lecter removed the now slightly bloodied gloves and threw them into the bin. He took the tiny torch out from his coat pocket, and pulled one of Wills eyelids up, shining the light into his eye. He repeated the process on the other eye, before declaring “still a good reaction time, Will. It really is just the morphine working its magic, which is good. No hidden concussion waiting for us.” Doctor Lecter placed the back of his hand against Wills forehead. “Nice temperature too. In fact, you seemed to have cooled down a little since you were first bought here. Excellent.”

Will studied Doctor Lecter’s face while he checked his temperature, taking in the man’s angular features, and the way his hair fell slightly across his forehead. “You have very pretty eyes, Doctor Lecter.” The words tumbled out of Wills mouth before he had a chance to stop them, and the deep blush that bloomed over his neck and face appeared in record time. “Oh god, I’m so-“

“It’s quite alright, Will. You wouldn’t believe the things patients tell me when they have a good dose of morphine in their system. People confess their sins when they’re on it,” Doctor Lecter grinned at Will, obviously not bothered by the comment. “Let me just get a new pair of gloves, and I will start on your second set of stitches.”

When the doctor left the bedside to get another pair of gloves, Will scrunched his hands into fists and pushed them into his eyes. The embarrassment was refusing to fade, just burning away in his chest. The morphine has stripped him of his internal filter it seems, and things that would usually stay internal wanted to pour out of his mouth. Maybe it would be best if he didn’t open it at all.

“Okay, Will,” Doctor Lecter said as he returned to Wills side, snapping a new pair of gloves into place. “This next set shouldn’t take long. Do you need anything? Water, or a blanket?” Doctor Lecter looked at Wills face while he waited for an answer. Will simply shook his head wildly, his lips pressed tightly together.

“Excellent. Let’s get started then.” Doctor Lecter got another needle and thread set up, repeating the process he had conducted earlier, just on a higher level of Wills wound. Will watched the needle enter and exit his skin, mesmerised by the movements of the needle and thread clasped in the doctor’s expert hand. He watched as the gash was gently coaxed shut and sealed tight, only a few droplets of blood escaping, slowly making their way down the side of his thigh. The doctor worked quickly and efficiently, and it wasn’t long before he was cutting the thread. “Okay Will, I think you’re all done. I’ll just place a bandage over it to keep it clean.” Lecter reached into the space between Wills legs where he had placed all the instruments, and brought out a large square bandage and another piece of small cloth. He wiped up the small droplets of blood that had escaped during the stitching process before smoothly covering the wound with the bandage, smoothing the edges down so they stuck firmly to Wills skin. “You’ll be sent home with a few of these bandages, as they’ll need to be changed periodically. Do you think you could do that, Will?”

Will nodded, still not trusting his treacherous mouth. Doctor Lecter smiled. “Good. Let me just unhook you from that IV and then I’ll just go get your discharge papers and a prescription for some pain medication.” Will stared as Doctor Lecter took Wills hand in his, and gently eased the cannula out from under Wills skin, before placing a small plaster over the tiny puncture it had made. As the doctor left the curtained area with a smile aimed at his patient, Will let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. The morphine was making his head swim, and all he could think about was how Doctor Lecter’s hands might look while they were doing other things. He shook his head quickly, trying to throw the thoughts from his head. He’d already embarrassed himself once, there was no need to do it again.

The doctor returned shortly, holding a box of medication in one hand and a small stack of papers in the other. “Just a couple of things for you to sign dear Will and you can be on your way home. I suggest resting for a couple of weeks, so no work and no vigorous exercise.” Will blushed at the way his brain construed the words ‘vigorous exercise.’ Doctor Lecter continued, either not noticing Wills blush or choosing to ignore it. Will suspected the latter. “This box contains one weeks’ worth of medication, but you have another prescription for more which you will have to fill out. Two tablets, every four hours for the first three days. Then down to 2 tablets every 6 hours for the next few. I have written all of this down, so do not worry if you forget. I will send you home with a copy of the instructions. Is everything clear?” Will gave a small smile and nodded, his head still feeling like it was floating.

“Excellent. A porter will be with you shortly to push you to the exit, where there is a taxi rank. I strongly suggest you go straight home and sleep, Will. Is there anything else I can do for you? Is there anything else you need?”

A grin erupted over Wills face as he giggled. “Your number?” Wills eyes flung open as realisation of what he had just said took over his still floppy and fuzzy feeling body. “I er, oh god I uhm—“

Luckily for Will, Doctor Lecter simply laughed. “Now now, Officer Graham. You’ll have to work harder than that to get my number.”


	2. Removal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since you were all so gosh darn lovely, I wrote a little more.

Will shifted uncomfortably in the hard chair. The waiting room was cold due to the automatic doors opening every 10 seconds as someone walked past them, and he was thankful for the warm jacket the force had issued him with. Today was going to be his first day back at work since his little mishap – all he had to do was get his stitches removed. It was very early in the morning, as Will had chosen an appointment that was before his shift started so he wasn’t late on his first day back. He glanced at his watch; 6:08am. So early in the morning and the hospital was already running 8 minutes behind. He huffed through his nose and ran his hand lightly over the injured area of his thigh, the fabric of his brand new dress pants only rising slightly as it made room for his bandage. Will didn’t really look forward to making small talk with the nurse who was going to be yanking at his wound, he was just looking forward to getting back into his squad car with his partner. The time off had been nice, but god was he bored now after almost 2 weeks. There was only so much he could do in his small house with his pack of dogs. They had been angry at him for the first week as he was unable to walk them for long, his leg always forcing him to stop well before the dogs were really tired. Will was pulled from his thoughts as he heard to grainy pop of the tannoy and his name being announced; “William Graham room 3.”

He stood up, careful not to put too much weight on his bad leg. It was okay once he started walking, but it was still a bit dodgy when it came to the stretching and sudden weight changes that came with standing up too quickly. He walked down the corridor, glancing at the numbers on the doors, before coming to stop outside the room marked three. He was unsure if he should just walk in, so he knocked and waited for confirmation from inside before he did anything. The door opened almost immediately, and revealed the smiling face of the doctor who had treated Will in the ER.

“I er, oh- Doctor Lecter, I... sorry, have I come to the wrong room? I’m meant to have my stitches out and-“

“No no Will, you have come to the correct place. Please, come inside.” Doctor Lecter stood back and held the door open wide for Will, who wandered in slightly confused. He turned around to look at the doctor, the confusion evident on his face.

“Sorry, Doctor Lecter, I don’t mean to be rude, but isn’t this kind of job usually carried out by like, a nurse or something?”

Doctor Lecter smiled and nodded, gesturing Will towards the raised bed in the corner. “Yes, usually it is. Unfortunately for me, there is a virus going around our staff at the moment. Obviously, those infected are unable to come into work. Our numbers have been decimated, meaning I have had to come in on one of my days off to lend an extra pair of hands wherever they are needed.” The doctor walked over to a set of drawers, pulling on a pair of blue gloves as he went. Opening the drawer, he began taking out the things he would need, placing them on a metal tray. “If you don’t mind Will, please remove your trousers,” Doctor Lecter glanced over at him, “We wouldn’t want to ruin another pair, would we?”

Will blushed slightly and mumbled something that sounded like ‘no’, but even he wasn’t sure if his lips had actually formed a word. He reached for his belt, his fingers fumbling as he undid it. He hesitated for a moment before he actually lowered them, embarrassment flooding through him. What a stupid thing to feel, why on earth was he embarrassed? The doctor had seen him in a worse state. Will found himself wishing that the doctor was in-fact the nurse he was expecting, as he felt like he wouldn’t feel like such an idiot around them. He would have even made small talk in exchange for being able to escape this weird situation he found himself in. Or was it weird? Was he just making it weird? Well, he definitely wasn’t helping. He let his trousers fall to the floor, the belt making a jangling noise as it fell. He didn’t step fully out of his trousers, and instead left them pooled around his ankles as he used his arms to hoist himself up onto the bed.

“Let’s see how this leg is doing, shall we Will?” Doctor Lecter asked as he came to stand beside Wills injured leg, gently peeling off the bandage before examining how it was healing. “It’s healed well, you’ve taken good care of it.”

Will lowered his head and muttered a ‘thank you.’ The doctor’s hand on his leg felt warm and comforting, even through the latex of his gloves. Will tried to think of other things, like the pain that removing the stitches was going to bring him. Pain was known to Will, he knew how to deal with it. Acting like a 13 year old girl with a painful crush was not something he knew so well.

“So how have you been since I last saw you, Will? I hope your leg didn’t give you too much trouble.”

“I’ve uhm, been fine, I guess. My dogs are a bit mad at me as I haven’t been able to give them the long walks they’re used to. But uh, I’m sure they’ll forgive me soon enough.” Will watched as the doctor carefully spread a cream over the stitches, his leg twitching slightly as the cold started to register on his abused skin. “… What about you, Doctor?”

The doctor glanced up at Wills face, seemingly surprised that someone had directed such a question back at him. He answered with a smile. “I’ve been fine, thank you for asking, Will. Apart from having my day off disrupted I don’t have much to complain about. How many dogs do you have?”

Will kept his gaze on his leg, watching as the doctor picked up a pair of what seemed to be long nosed pliers and began to loosen the knots on one of the stitches. “Eight, at the moment.”

Doctor Lecter stopped what he was doing and regarded Will with amazement. “Eight? Eight dogs? Where on earth do they all sleep? How on earth do you keep track of them all?”

Will dared to glimpse up quickly, catching the doctor’s eye for a split second before he averted his gaze down again. He gave a half-hearted shrug, the beginnings of a smile playing on his lips as the doctor’s astonishment amused him. “I can’t say no to an animal in need, I guess. They need a home as much as you or I, so… why not with me?”

The doctor laughed lightly, shaking his head, before going back to tending Wills stitches. “Eight dogs, I can’t believe it. How did they act the night you came home high on morphine?”

Will felt a blush surge across his face and neck as the memories of that night came flooding back to him, including all the stupid things he had said to Doctor Lecter. “I er, oh, they uhm, they were fine,” Will squeaked. His voice had abandoned him. Will felt the doctor’s eyes on his face, taking note of the red hue that spread across his cheeks and nose. Will wanted a hole to open up beneath him and swallow him up.

Doctor Lecter nodded, trying to hide his smile.“Good. Morphine can be a tricky drug. Fantastic for pain, but can leave you feeling out of it for quite a while.” Will just nodded. He felt that was the safest thing to do. Nodding was less likely to get him in trouble than his stupid mouth. He again went back to just watching as the stitches were slowly and carefully pried apart and removed from his skin one by one. They were half way there before the doctor chose to speak again.

“So, apart from walking your pack, what hobbies do you have Will?” Will glimpsed at the doctors face quickly, and although he seemed mainly concentrated on Wills stitches, he did seem genuinely interested. Will couldn’t detect a hint of forced small talk around the doctor’s question.

“I uhm. I like to fish.”

“Oh, really? I’ve never been fishing,” Doctor Lecter flitted his focus between Will’s leg and face. “Are you any good?”

Will shrugged. “I guess? I don’t know. I do it just to like, clear my head, really. And then whatever I happen to catch I take home for dinner.”

Doctor Lecter nodded. “That’s the bit I’d be interested in, the dinner part. I’m quite good at cooking, but I’m not sure how proficient I would be at actually catching my dinner.”

“Oh, it’s not that hard, I could show you some ti-” Will froze, his entire body stiffening. “I mean, as like, uhm just like, as er friends you know I ohgod-”

It didn’t help ease Will at all when Doctor Lecter laughed. “Oh Will, please do calm down. There is very little you could say to me that would offend me. And I really need you to un-tense the muscles in your leg if you wish for me to continue.”

Will felt like a complete idiot, yet again. There was something about the Doctor that brought out Will’s stupid side. He scrunched his eyes shut and prayed for the horror to end. Why couldn’t he act like a normal human, and why did he keep trying to ask this Doctor out on dates? It’s like his mouth was conspiring against him, and said whatever it wanted even when his brain was screaming at it to shut up. No wonder Will hadn’t had a love interest for a long time, he was a mess when it came to the entire process. He wanted his leg finished so he could run out of the room and vow never to be sent to this hospital again. He could even move away, ask for a transfer-

“Really Will, this will be much easier for both of us if you relax your muscles.”

Will hadn’t even realised he’d tensed up again. The utter embarrassment of everything that had happened had made his fight or flight responses kick in, and apparently his body was intent on using flight even though it had to stay perfectly still on the hospital bed. He muttered a quick ‘sorry’ and tried to let himself relax a little, but he obviously didn’t do it quick enough as the Doctor had started gently rubbing at his thigh.

“Are you tense because it’s hurting, Will?” Lecter continued the rubbing of Will’s leg, “You should have said something, I can give you something for the pain if you like-“

“No, it’s not hurting-” There it was again, his stupid mouth. He should have just said ‘yes doctor, it’s really causing me some trouble, please give me some pills’ but he hadn’t. He mentally punched himself in the face. “I am just a fucking idiot.”

Doctor Lecter didn’t say anything as he started back up on the stitches. He continued to work them out gently, trying his hardest to not hurt Will, even if that meant he had to spend a little extra time on him. The silence in the air hung thick around them both, almost suffocating Will, who felt like he should say something but then that’s what had got him here in the first place. He chose to ride out the uncomfortable atmosphere by thinking about all the paperwork he would have to catch up on at work. Almost 5 minutes had passed before anyone spoke again.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot, Will, I think you’re very endearing.” Lecter finished taking out the last of Will’s stitches as he made this statement, and began spreading more cream over the healing wound. “You just need some adhesive strips placed over it to help the healing skin, and then you’re free to go.” Doctor Lecter turned his back to Will as he went through the drawers, looking for the small strips. Will sat there in a stunned silence. He had no idea how to respond to what the Doctor had said, but his brain was yelling at him to say something. Anything. But he didn’t. He stayed in a dumbfounded silence, even as the Doctor gently pressed the strips down over the healing skin. “You can pull your trousers up now, Will. I just need to sign your file and then you can be off.” Doctor Lecter went over to a small desk in the corner, yanked his gloves off, and flicked through a brown folder, hurriedly signing his name on one of the back pages before placing it in a tray marked ‘to be filed,’ as Will slid gingerly off the bed and sorted his clothing out. Lecter then pulled another piece of paper out from a different file, signing that too before handing it over to a still silent Will. “That’s a note to say you were at the hospital today in case you’re late, so your boss can’t tell you off. I hope you have a lovely day, Will.”

Will looked at his watch. It was only 6:43am, and his shift didn’t start until 8am. “Thanks, but I won’t be late Doctor Lecter-”

“Keep it anyway.” The Doctor looked at Will’s face with a look Will didn’t quite understand, before walking across the room to the door, holding it open. The atmosphere in the room was still slightly odd, but Will couldn’t think of anything to say that would alleviate it, so he gave up. He pocketed the note and walked over to the doorway, stopping in-front of the Doctor as if he has something meaningful to say. He didn’t. Doctor Lecter held his hand out for Will to shake, and as Wills skin touched the bare hands of the Doctor, his brain was yelling at him to say something before it was too late. Will chose to ignore it. He had made enough of a mess already.

On his way back to his car, Will felt an odd sense of emptiness in the pit of his stomach, like he was walking away from something special. He shook his head, and cursed his own messed up emotions. There was nothing between him and the doctor, Will just had a silly little crush on someone who had treated him nicely. The first stranger to treat him nicely in a while. He was just craving human contact, that was all. Hopefully going back to work would set him straight. As he reached his car, he got in immediately with the intention of driving straight to the station and getting a head start on all that paper work that was undoubtedly stacked up on his desk, but he couldn’t find it in himself to start the engine. He instead pulled out the doctors note, and read through the printed text, with parts like Will’s name personalised in the Doctors own fine handwriting. It was indeed, just a doctor’s note explaining that Will had attended his appointment. Will didn’t know what he had expected. He tossed the note onto the passenger’s seat and started the engine, making his way to the station. As it was still so early, there was little traffic on the roads and he made it to work with record time. He pulled into a parking space behind the station, and breathed deeply, getting himself ready for his first day back at work for over 2 weeks. To prepare himself, he mentally ran through everything he would need to do to get himself set up and ready to complete paperwork, and realised that he had forgotten the code to the staff door. Luckily, he had it written down and stored in his glove compartment, a big no-no, but it had saved him from having to call a colleague down on the many occasions when he had forgotten the six digit number. As he leant over to the glove compartment to retrieve the small piece of paper, something caught his eye. On the back of the note sat on his passenger seat, Doctor Lecter had written something. Will picked the note up, not quite believing what he was seeing. It was a cell phone number, and underneath was written ‘Endearing, not idiotic. H x.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there it is. After me saying I probably wouldn't write any more, I produced almost 3000 more words. It seems not writing for 3 years was what I needed to get a little bit of creativity back, who knew?
> 
> As always, concrit is welcome. I hope you all enjoy it.


End file.
